Twins Minor League Report (4/13): Berríos Dazzles in Buffalo

FWIW Berrios is working on some mechanical adjustments. On the Red Wings' pregame show just now he said he's trying to ditch that wrist curl thing he does with his pitching hand behind his back at the start of his delivery.

 

Said he's been doing that his whole life, so it has been difficult to change that habit. Primary reason for the change is they think it will help his command, but they're also hoping it make it less likely he'll tip his pitches.

 

Isn't that the change up, though?

 

Its' the same coaches and scouts.The only delta is the two at the top.

 

Berrios is too good for the minors. He might work on a thing or two, but no one will know anything until he's been in the majors for 2 years. IMO, he should be in MN as soon as Mejia has his next bad start.

I know its the same coaches and scouts, that's why I said they're being given different standards and different direction. If your boss gets fired because the company is failing and new guys come in to run things they give you different ways to do things and have different expectations.

 

He's going to dominate AAA. We already know that. But getting people out in the minors is different than getting them out in the bigs. The way he gets people out in the minors matters. He needed to tighten his command and control after last year. There's no way you can argue that point. He had no idea where the ball was going. In the minors you can get away with that because the hitters aren't as good or smart. Doesn't work in the majors, though. It's why some guys end up in the pen. You can't be a starter and survive without knowing where the ball is going. It's the same thing Buxton has struggled with the last couple years. He can hit fastballs. In the minors he just looks for fastballs and pounces because the pitchers don't have the control of their breaking stuff to challenge him well enough. The guys in the majors do. Until he learns to recognize and hit major league breaking pitches he'll fail. He can't learn to do that in the minors so he needs to take his lumps in the bigs. Berrios can learn to control and command his stuff in the minors. There's no reason to have him struggle in the bigs and lose his confidence when he could be working on things in the minors. As Dantes929 said...he's not a robot. There's a human element to things and if he hasn't improved his command he'll get shelled again. And it doesn't matter who you are, if you get beaten enough times it's going to effect you. When he comes up he needs to have everything in place to succeed. When he does come up I'd like to see him in the pen where he can just let it fly and see that he can get big league hitters out. Once he has that confidence and there's no doubt in his mind that he can succeed then you unleash him as a starter and have him carry that confidence and attacking mindset over. The Cardinals do it with all of their guys and it seems to be working pretty well for them. Danny Duffy talks about it all the time as well. If Berrios is throwing pitches without 100% confidence that he's getting the guy out on that pitch he will fail. Any pitcher will. Letting him dominate AAA and tighten things there before you bring him up is a good decision, in my opinion. Working on things while you get your brains bashed in against big leaguers is not a good strategy. For him or the team.

I know its the same coaches and scouts, that's why I said they're being given different standards and different direction. If your boss gets fired because the company is failing and new guys come in to run things they give you different ways to do things and have different expectations.

 

He's going to dominate AAA. We already know that. But getting people out in the minors is different than getting them out in the bigs. The way he gets people out in the minors matters. He needed to tighten his command and control after last year. There's no way you can argue that point. He had no idea where the ball was going. In the minors you can get away with that because the hitters aren't as good or smart. Doesn't work in the majors, though. It's why some guys end up in the pen. You can't be a starter and survive without knowing where the ball is going. It's the same thing Buxton has struggled with the last couple years. He can hit fastballs. In the minors he just looks for fastballs and pounces because the pitchers don't have the control of their breaking stuff to challenge him well enough. The guys in the majors do. Until he learns to recognize and hit major league breaking pitches he'll fail. He can't learn to do that in the minors so he needs to take his lumps in the bigs. Berrios can learn to control and command his stuff in the minors. There's no reason to have him struggle in the bigs and lose his confidence when he could be working on things in the minors. As Dantes929 said...he's not a robot. There's a human element to things and if he hasn't improved his command he'll get shelled again. And it doesn't matter who you are, if you get beaten enough times it's going to effect you. When he comes up he needs to have everything in place to succeed. When he does come up I'd like to see him in the pen where he can just let it fly and see that he can get big league hitters out. Once he has that confidence and there's no doubt in his mind that he can succeed then you unleash him as a starter and have him carry that confidence and attacking mindset over. The Cardinals do it with all of their guys and it seems to be working pretty well for them. Danny Duffy talks about it all the time as well. If Berrios is throwing pitches without 100% confidence that he's getting the guy out on that pitch he will fail. Any pitcher will. Letting him dominate AAA and tighten things there before you bring him up is a good decision, in my opinion. Working on things while you get your brains bashed in against big leaguers is not a good strategy. For him or the team.

Good thoughts, but I feel like you are closer to our side than you realize. If Buxton needs to push through his struggles in MLB then Berrios should too. They play on different sides of the ball but as far as the maturing process, I don't see how it's that much different.

 

Good thoughts, but I feel like you are closer to our side than you realize. If Buxton needs to push through his struggles in MLB then Berrios should too. They play on different sides of the ball but as far as the maturing process, I don't see how it's that much different.

I am pretty close to your side, yes. But the difference, to me, with Buxton and Berrios is that the things Berrios needs to work through are things he can do in the minors where it isn't hurting his confidence or the team. Buxton is baffled by big league pitchers being able to spot their breaking stuff and mixing pitches on him. The guys in the minors are not as good at those things so he needs to be facing major league guys with scouting reports on him and learn how to adjust. Berrios needs to tighten actual physical skills. He can, and in my opinion should, work on those struggles in the minors. The things he's trying to fix are the things that the minors are there for. There's plenty of guys who throw gas and have a nasty breaking ball, but being able to harness those things is why they go through the minors. Him learning to harness those things is what I see as his struggles right now. And I think he's pretty close. He looked awfully good in the WBC. But right now there's not an opening in the rotation (although I'd be happy seeing Gibson go to the pen, dude can't go through the order more than once). Without a glaring "this guy is torpedoing our rotation" opening at this point in the year I think you let Berrios tighten his mechanics outside of the spotlight.

 

I think he was a little messed up and major league hitters are better but they are not that much better.   What I saw watching Berrios on tv last year there was no way those performances would translate into success in the minors.    He was over throwing and was all over the place.  You don't go from a 3.83 so/bb in the minors to 1.4 in the majors throwing the same way.    Same thing happened recently with May.   As for  Buxton.  The pitchers are better in the majors but you don't go from a .302 minor league average to .084 major league average doing the same things.    The fastballs he is missing right now he would not miss in the minors.    

 

I think Buxton is all between the ears. He's missing fastballs cuz he's got no idea what's coming at him. I think in the minors he was just sitting and hunting fastballs. The major league pitchers have scouting reports on him and know the holes in his game and they're abusing him by mixing pitches and keeping him off balance. I think he's going to bust out this year, and I'm hoping it's soon, but I also do think there is a pretty drastic difference between minor league players and major league players.